Barrons' reporter runs Leaf flat in Manhattan

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DeaneG

Well-known member
Joined
May 4, 2010
Messages
1,110
Location
Cupertino, CA
Looks like we're all going to have to think a little harder about charging. Sometimes it seems as if journalists are doing this on purpose, but it sounded like this reporter just believed the range estimate and google maps, and the result was a full stop in Manhattan.

Also an interesting comment that the nav system did not show the six charging stations which would have bailed her out.

http://online.wsj.com/video/taking-the-nissan-leaf-for-a-test-drive/F42A143D-BB80-4294-BC51-E96A2BF71090.html?mod=WSJ_Markets_VideoCarousel_1
 
Seems like if you are going to hand a demo car to a reporter for a week, you'd update the charging station map so that this would not happen to them. Like somebody said in another thread, they should really be updating these maps monthly right now, instead of quarterly (with the first update since launch in a week or two).
 
To me, she was clearly pushing her luck on this trip: 75 miles to destination, 65 MPH on freeway (she should have been going 55 MPH knowing the length of the trip), an on-the-cold-side 50 degrees temperature (that was probably the warmest it got & most of the trip below that temp). And why did she wait until the last few miles to search for a charging station? The Leaf must have been warning her the last 30 miles that she needed to find a charging station.
 
You know what's just as embarrassing and frustrating as running out of battery power 0.8 miles from a charging station?

Running out of gas 0.8 miles from the nearest gas station.

Sorry lady, you overestimated your vehicle's abilities and got stuck. We've all done it and it's not the car's fault. :roll:
=Smidge=
 
She HAD to drive 65!

She didn't use the common sense to pull over and plug in somewhere, rather than stalling in traffic.

I bet the first idiot/reporter who runs the battery out on a major bridge or in a tunnel during rush hour will get quite a bit of play for their report.
 
Wow - she seemed to be quite happy that she ran out of juice.

Probably the worst video/audio report I've seen. Most amateur youtube videos I've seen are of better quality.

It seems that the reporter is rather ignorant of the vehicles capabilities. At 65 mph without HVAC the range of the car is about 85 miles - or just about exactly the distance she traveled before running out of juice. No doubt HVAC was running which would have further sapped energy out of the pack.

If the NAV system had displayed available charging stations - would she have stopped? She claimed that at 20 miles to go she had no choice but to press on despite the low energy warnings. I think otherwise. I think she would have pushed the car to empty regardless to get a "story".

Sadly - this is the lowest common denominator that EVs will face. It's apparent that as much work Nissan has put into the Leaf to dummy proof the car - it's still not enough. It also appears that the DTE's indicator's shortcomings have come forth again - a real SOC meter might be better for even the lowest common denominator. There will be a long road ahead before EVs are truly ready for the masses. And until then, "reports" like this will continue to pop up.
 
The car did exactly as expected, however the reporter seemed to be trying to prove a point. Her point was that Nissan's car does not always live up to the hype which is 100 mile range, and an instrumentation system that should not ever allow you to run out of electricity. The car seemed to perform admirably for her. It gave her 80+ miles which is better than the EPA rating for the car in mixed use which is exactly what she was doing. The biggest issue was that the low battery warning system which started warning her about the low pack situation (with 20 miles left to go) did not direct her to the nearest charge point to insure she did not run out of electricity. It did not do this because the system was not updated. The reporter afterward found out that she passed a dozen charging locations, but the car could not direct her to stop in for a quick top-off. This could be a problem for anybody who thinks the car can go 100 miles and will direct them to a charge station if the battery is low (which is how the car is advertised). We all know better since the readers of this forum are far more well informed than the average public (and even most of the EV journalists). Communication from Nissan is important in this area. Advertise the car with the EPA range instead of the 100 mile range, but also say that if you drive gently you can easily get 100+ miles out of the car. Update the charge station maps very frequently for the early users so that we stay up to date with the rapid changes in infrastructure. As the infrastructure growth slows, so can the effort at updating the cars database. I don't have a car yet, but from all reports i've read, there is not a single charge point on the database that was generated from Nissan. The only ones are the ones that the users have sought out and inputted into their car themselves.
 
Smidge204 said:
You know what's just as embarrassing and frustrating as running out of battery power 0.8 miles from a charging station?

Running out of gas 0.8 miles from the nearest gas station.

Sorry lady, you overestimated your vehicle's abilities and got stuck. We've all done it and it's not the car's fault. :roll:
=Smidge=

I agree. And a much more 'polite' commentary on the video than I was about to make..... :evil: ;)
 
Why would she plan a trip with that distance? As someone said she wanted it to run out to MAKE the story and not just to report on how nice a car it is.

Why does she not drive a gas car until it runs out of gas and say "the car did not tell me I need to put gas in the car"
 
Barrons reviewing an EV, what next High Times? "I thought it would make it but I was too stoned to read the gauge."
 
It would be like me taking a gas car that says it can go "300 miles" on a tank of fuel, driving it as inefficiently as possible, getting a low fuel warning at 250 miles, then keep driving it until it completely stopped at about 275 miles. I would then create a video stating that it wasn't my fault that I didn't know where any gas stations were to refuel up at!

Personally this is typical of modern journalism... You have to "out hype" the other guy...
 
EVDRIVER said:
Barrons reviewing an EV, what next High Times? "I thought it would make it but I was too stoned to read the gauge."
that's story I would read... "couldn't find a charge station but found a Krispy Kreme's... mmm donuts; oh yeah, charging station... oh well.
DarkStar said:
Personally this is typical of modern journalism... You have to "out hype" the other guy...
Really, the next "journalist" needs to test the airbag system.
 
A lack of preparation, knowledge, caution, accommodation, and infrastructure conspire to disappointing result for Ms. Malik. She seemed disappointed it did not quit in the tunnel. A more sensational story, for sure. As much as we whine about Nissans rigorous customer qualification process, not doing so puts the LEAF in the hands of those who’s ignorance, impatience, bravado, and proximity will prevail over success. Please give Ms. Malik back the keys to the Bentley. The LEAF is not for everybody.
 
I'd put half the blame on Nissan for not maintaining the charging database. You'd think it would be their highest non-manufacturing priority.
 
DeaneG said:
I'd put half the blame on Nissan for not maintaining the charging database. You'd think it would be their highest non-manufacturing priority.

I've got over 3100 miles on my Leaf and have used the charger at my dealer twice. I would use more public charging stations much more often if they were available (and shown on my NAV).

Are you reading this, Nissan?? You're missing out on LOTS of PR by A) having people like me talking positively about our car to passers by as my Leaf charges and B) NOT having stories like this nimrod running out of juice.

In this age of instant information, stories like this can be a major setback.....and one so EASILY avoided. Nissan should have teams of people running around listing every public charger they can find and then immediately updating the NAV.

:(
 
I think Nissan had better vet the intelligence and motives of the reporters they lend cars to. If you keep-on-driving-no-matter-what... every car will run out of fuel. She did not seem to know this. :roll:
 
+1 to both Jimmydreams and DeaneG. There has been a year to put down Nav updates on all the chargers in the area. Nice they are providing towing service, but prophylaxis is better than a slap to the forehead the morning after. Now Nissan, a year after this project started, reach out and get those Nav updates laid in. That was a large part of the selective States rollout. Better opportunity to avoid just this kind of silliness. It is hard to believe that the Nav doesn't have tons of data points on EV charging. There should be an App for that.
 
TRONZ said:
I think Nissan had better vet the intelligence and motives of the reporters they lend cars to. If you keep-on-driving-no-matter-what... every car will run out of fuel. She did not seem to know this. :roll:
Yes - some kind of IQ test is needed ;)
 
DeaneG said:
I'd put half the blame on Nissan for not maintaining the charging database. You'd think it would be their highest non-manufacturing priority.


This should be done weekly to start, if they get data and it's entered what's the big deal. Quarterly is a complete joke. Nissan has already proven their database management expertise.
 
Back
Top